Al MacDonald is a food and advertising photographer conveniently located near Chicago's O'Hare airport. For over 35 years, he has been commissioned by leading food companies and restaurants from a number of countries. Al and his current business partner, Renee, have created an impressive body of work for the food industry. They have extensive experience in producing photos for frozen food retail packaging as well as B2B advertising, recipe illustration and foodservice applications.

The 5400 sq. ft. studio facility has a comfortable client lounge and an extensive prop room. The large, fully equipped kitchen has KitchenAid Pro series appliances along with additional commercial refrigeration and freezers. Al uses a large format Sinar digital system which produces files capable of enlargement for point-of-sale posters as well as trade show booth displays and outdoor boards.

Andy Lewis specialises in food, drink and still life photography for advertising, packaging and editorial.

Based out of his studio in St Leonard’s, Sydney, Andy’s recent clients include some of the biggest brand names in Australia and Asia. Woolworths, GoulburnValley, V Iced Coffee, KingdomBeer, Masterfoods, Strongbow, DonnaHayMagazine, Women's Weekly Magazine and Delicious Magazine are just a few of his regular clients.

London:
Bill Kingston:

Bill Kingston has had a long career in food photography, enjoying advertising work with Marks and Spencer, Nestlé, Subway and Starbucks as well as working editorially with Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Harrods and Delicious, among many others.

His mixture of daylight images combined with his extensive understanding of all forms of artificial lighting - both flash and continuous - has led to a naturalistic style that is very popular and relevant in today's climate.

Bill is very adaptable and can either work from his central London studio base or on location, recently having enjoyed numerous trips around Europe and the UK. He has a technical and an innate understanding of light and composition that has led to his widespread popularity. He is an enthusiastic and easy-going photographer who is keen to find solutions to design briefs, whilst retaining a relaxed atmosphere on any shoot.

Brian Wetzstein is a Chicago-based food and beverage photographer who specialises in advertising, packaging and editorial assignments. He has photographed food and product images for companies including Promoaction DDB Saudi Arabia, McDonald's, Quaker, Bunnomatic, PublicationsInternational Ltd., and Imagine Publications.

Brian's studio in Chicago's South Loop includes a newly refurbished kitchen (designed with a food stylist's needs in mind), beautiful daylight, a vast array of props, and many other client amenities. From the studio or out on location, Brian and his stylists work together to create images that captivate the viewer through his sensitivity of the different textures within food, so the viewer comes away saying "It makes me hungry."

Visit his newly designed website or log on to his blog for more information.

There is a true art to capturing the pure essence of food in still imagery. In order to convey the texture, imply the aroma and impart the taste, a photographer must embody a keen eye for the slightest of detail and maintain a thorough knowledge of lighting, styling and colour.

Enter award-winning photographer Calvin Lockwood. His food images are amazing still-lifes, works of art and editorial genius. For the last 25-years he has been thrilling clients with his unparalleled imagery in his downtown Atlanta studio and on the road across the country.

Specialising in food and beverage photography, Carl Kravats has been refining and honing his craft for over 25 years. Using his lighting skills, attention to detail and client-centered focus, he has earned his place creating images for food and beverage sales and marketing.

With his imagination, artistic sensibility and warm-hearted sense of humour, he creates a collaborative environment in his studio where art director, photographer and stylist can work together as a cohesive team. Knowing that we eat with our eyes first, Carl effectively draws the viewer into the image.

David Verdini is an award-winning, NY-NJ commercial photographer who specialises in culinary imagery. He has created an extensive body of work in the culinary world for editorial, packaging and advertising.

His goal has always been to visually transform a chef's creation for it to appear three-dimensional and evoke the desire of the viewer to seize and relish the chef's art. It is David's passionate drive to work in synergy with chefs and stylists, establishing a common vision to co-create beautiful, practical imagery that in the end, has and will continue to generate revenue for his clients.

Dennis Savini is an experienced Zurich-based food and drinks photographer. He also works in advertising and for editorial assignments, and his photographs are regularly printed in Le Menu food magazine, books and ads.

Dennis is renowned for his natural approach to food photography and his fine lightning technique that gives a light-filled look into his editorial work. Agencies appreciate his talent for special effects with liquids and his expertise in retouching. Despite working from his fully equipped Zurich studio, Dennis also likes to shoot on location with natural light and minimal equipment.

Process has been successfully representing Gareth Sambidge for nearly 10 years and is very proud to have produced some super campaigns in recent months, including print, poster and packaging for many of the major food retailers both in the UK and internationally.

Gareth’s current clients include McDonald's, KFC, Waitrose, Cadburys, Costa Coffee, Sainsbury’s, Cathedral Cheese, British Meat Council, Tesco, Fresh and Easy USA, Sab Miller and Lipton, to name just a few.

Gareth is renowned for his relaxed attitude and clean creative imagery. Gareth shoots from a spacious natural daylight studio in the heart of south London.

Visit the website to view Gareth’s beautiful portfolios of modern contemporary food and produce.

Hilary Moore's love of food and passion for creating beautiful shots for advertising and editorial clients still remain her No.1 passion.

She works with talented teams of food stylists and art directors, which is paramount when aiming to achieve the best possible results.

Hilary shoots from her centrally located studio in Vauxhall, London, that features natural daylight, a fully equipped kitchen (a roof garden, for those after-work beers!) car park and easy Tube and rail connections.

Jan Prerovsky is a Prague-based food and editorial photographer who works across Europe. Thanks to a background in reportage he is extremely versatile, fast and unconventional. With a great eye for detail Jan manages not only to catch the right moment but also capture feeling and atmosphere.

With more then a decade of work experience as both a freelance and staff photographer in the publishing industry, he has covered everything from news to portraiture, interior and restaurant photography. Over the last three years he has focused on food and restaurant photography, exploring the visual side of culinary art. Although he feels at home in the studio, it is on location where Jan is in his element.

Jan is currently looking for representation. Visit his website for more information and samples of his work.

Jean Cazals is a London-based food and lifestyle photographer. He works from his Notting Hill-based studio when he is not out shooting on location in the UK or abroad. Dedicated to detail and atmosphere whether classic or contemporary, Jean is constantly looking to bring out the best from each composition with the help of his talented team of stylists and home economists. He also produces projects for publishing companies.

Jean is a regular on Production Paradise and for this issue of Spotlight Food & Drink he has decided to go with a ‘sweet note’, featuring a selection of recent commissions for book publishing, editorial and design companies.

Jeff Kauck specialises in food photography for advertising, magazines, cookbooks and packaging. His work has garnered numerous accolades, including a James Beard nomination for his work on The Spiaggia Cookbook.

Known for his ability to bring his subjects to life in a way that is influenced by his training as a watercolour painter, a small listing of Jeff Kauck’s corporate clients include McDonald's, Nestlé, Heinz, Sara Lee, BettyCrocker, Kellogg's and General Mills.

Among the many books for which he has contributed his photography are Patricia Wells’ Salad as a Meal; The ¡Salpicón! Cookbook: Contemporary Mexican Cuisine; Stonewall Kitchen Harvest; Wine Bar Food: Mediterranean Flavors to Crave with Wines to Match; Williams-Sonoma Mastering: Soups and Stews and Chocolate & Vanilla.

Whether it’s creating a global standard for a brand or telling an editorial story, Jeff’s international client base depends on his collaborative working style to bring their artistic vision to life.

Jignesh shoots in the studio with natural and simulated daylight as well as on location across the world. He also uses video to express himself and is available for commissions across advertising, packaging and editorial.

With a dedicated food studio, kitchen and prop shop as well as an accomplished in-house post production and 3D/CGI team, turnaround times are quick and quality is of the highest level.

Jose Vidaurre is a Miami-based photographer and digital retoucher, specialising in beverages and "liquids in motion". He works at extremely high resolution, usually stitching many captures for each project.

The first images featured in this Spotlight are part of the "Be part of it / It's Miller Time" 2011 global campaign, currently being launched across 68 countries. Jose not only did the photos and digital retouching but also created the visual concepts, working in close cooperation with the advertising agency.

The remaining images are part of the "liquid art" series, two of which have been selected for the 2012 "200 Best Advertising Photographers Worldwide". All images in this series were created by shooting clear water and adding colours digitally.

Kyle Dreier enjoys his passion for food from behind the camera while creating engaging images for a wide variety of food clients. Kyle’s heritage and preoccupation with food influences not only his photographic career but also occupies much of his family time outside of work.

Stephen Conroy's food photography has featured worldwide as well as in the UK.

His approach - which is to produce fresh and natural images - has led to a fantastic year of commissions, notably shooting with McDonald's and in particular the company's 'Great Tastes of America' and Festive campaigns.

Stephen also seems to have become the pies and tarts man, having shot two mouth-watering books for 2012 release.

Clients enjoy working in his relaxed and friendly studios near London's Oval cricket ground. Whether they are the largest of global brands or a small local business, all of Stephen’s clients enjoy the same level of service and attention to detail.

London:
Tony Briscoe:

Tony Briscoe is a London-based food photographer. His photography has a fresh, natural, graphic style which he captures whether on location or in his studio.

"Having worked with Tony for over eight years he has consistently delivered in both skill and creativity. From niche packaging jobs to over-sized retail projects he has met them all with the same attention to detail. Aside from his photographic skills he has other qualities which are not to be under-estimated; he's impressively pro-active, open to suggestions, meets challenges head on, is easy to talk to plus he’s GREAT with my clients, which from my point of view as an art director is invaluable. All this adds up to days of shooting that I always look forward too!" Milly Mills, Art Director, BrandMe.

Tony’s dedication to the images he produces can be seen in both his commissioned work and personal projects. Visit his website for more information.